Authors note: A character mentioned in this and some other chapters is Darcy, is from a friends fan fic, and will have little mention, I just promised her Darcy would be mentioned lol

A large stone floored chamber lit only by the constant flickering of the fire in the enormous hearth. There was a loud resonating sound, the precise and crisp drop of stiletto-heeled footfalls, a shapely female figure wreathed in a black velvet cloak strode across the voluminous chamber. The figures' strides were made with sensuous grace and seductive essence, a sweetly irresistible smile flowed across feminine lips as she crouched to look into the fire, the tongues of licking flame consuming the wood that feeds it, much like the Mantis while mating, she thought to herself. She ran her hands slowly down over her body as she stood again, smoothing the black velvet into her skin, she loved the feeling of it, her vibrant green eyes closed as she savored the run of her hands over every curve of her body and the sensation it created. She paused to enjoy the moment. When She eventually opened her eyes again a stray lock of her sable textured, deep amber hair had broken free of the exquisitely formed bun on the back of her head, she sighed softly and raised a perfectly manicured hand to tuck it behind her slightly upswept ear. She turned and crossed over to a nearby chair. Sinking slowly into it, and letting the ancient leather of the chair creak around her, she allowed herself a self-satisfied sigh. Her hand reached out and removed the top from a nearby decanter, slowly lifting the container, a few glugs of the deep claret wine poured into the awaiting glass and the decanter and top were replaced, exquisitely long fingers curled around the stem of the glass and lifted it from the table and into the air. Her nose hovered over the glass and she inhaled, getting a lovely scent of the wine, she then tasted the crisp tannins melting on her tongue and she settled down to wait..

That night Xander couldn't sleep. He wasn't on Patrol tonight, which was a good thing, seeing as he couldn't concentrate on anything anyway. He sat watching a random action movie with the traditional Gung-ho explosions. He sat back and thought "Not exactly end of the world stuff though really." It was then that it hit him he could legitimately say that, because he'd damn near witnessed it at least twice. He got up and grabbed his coat and headed out,

One visit to the Espresso Pump later, he skulked though the streets, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a White Chocolate Mocha he'd bought from an all night coffee store. He was staring at the pavement and thinking, thinking about the last time they were in England, with Darcy and Basil and well. He stopped short on himself and looked across the street into the park, and his brow creased as he thought he saw someone he recognized, Darcy! But then he blinked and the image was gone, he frowned and turned away, He knew Darcy was in LA with Angel, Cordy and the others, but why was this hanging over him so badly, he just couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched. It was then he heard a scream, from inside the park. He vaulted over a nearby wall as his hero instincts kicked in,. Then, as soon as he landed, he second-guessed himself as his coward reactions kicked in.

"It is called fight then flight right?" he quipped to himself as he regained his heroism. Then he took off in the direction of the screaming, Ever since he got dragged into Buffy's supernatural fighting universe, he had never really been able to pass up someone who needed him, so he ran on, quicker. As the screaming grew louder Something else Xander had recently learned, after a nasty encounter with a big room and about 15 vampires, was, to not jump in at the deep end, he slowed up as he neared the source and was checking round him cautiously for signs of trouble, he hadn't recognized the voice that was screaming but hey, it sounded female, and females in danger could always do with a Hero type, unless they were Buffy. in which case they usually WERE the hero.

What he wouldn't give to be the hero for once, just once to be the one that save the earth, he couldn't wait to see the look on Buffy's face when that happened. He happened upon a clearing, and saw it, large leather clad, vampire. That was built like, Xander mused, 'One great big muscle on legs'. The Vampire was towering over a local girl, Xander recognized her, he'd seen here out and about. He checked his surroundings once more and reached inside his coat and realized he didn't have any stakes with him, but she needed him. So he acted. Breaking cover into the clearing he shouted, waving his arms.

"Hey. Hey Tons of Fun! Over here."

The vampire looked round, and recognized Xander as one of The slayer's sidekicks, cause you know a few years of staking vamps, your story get around, right. The girl was instantly forgotten. The vampires face contorted as he got his "Game face" on and shouted at Xander.

"You seriously didn't want to do that. I was gonna have a nice snack." As the Vampire spoke, he advanced on the hero wannabe.

"A threat! Good. You know where you are with a good threat." Said Xander, advancing in his own right. They approached each other, the vampire sprung into action leaping high into the air, barreling its shoulder into Xander, who stumbled back, regained his center of gravity and retaliated by swinging his fist in a high arc towards the beasts face, all the while wishing he had Buffy's innate ability to produce a stake from seemingly skimpy clothing. Seeing the blow coming long before it would have struck the best ducked under the flailing strike and landed one of his own. An uppercut. Right on Xander's jaw. The crunching of fist against face could be head from a few meters away. The human Xander was flung high into the air and landed with a cracking sound against a tree. The girl, who he was trying to save, screamed lightly as she saw Xander hurled into the air in this fashion. The Vampire advanced on Xander's still form; he crouched down and looked at Xander's face. Blood trickling from his mouth and nose, and no movement.

"All too easy. Without the Slayer to help them, these humans are easy prey." The Vampire said to himself. Then he felt the piercing sensation in his chest. With lightening speed, Xander had grabbed one of the nearby branches that had been snapped off and used it as a makeshift stake to dispatch of the Vampiric nuisance crouching over him.

He watched in triumph as the Huge Form in front of him crumbled to dust. Xander dusted off his hands and realized a girl was watching him, so he decided a glib witticism would be in order.

"That appears to have gotten to the root of the problem!" he said, only now realizing that after the uppercut, it hurt to talk. Turning on his heels his eyes scanned around the trees.

"Hello?" he asked, looking for the girl he had saved. There was no answer, "Hello, are you there?" he asked again.

Still there was no answer. Xander advanced deeper into the copse of trees in which his battle had taken place, until he found a scrap of cloth, the same pastel blue as the girl's jacket, his worry increased as he saw the bloodstains on it. Then he realized that, said blood was actually dripping from his nose. He looked up again.

"Hello, It's alright he's gone." Xander spoke softly and reassuringly. Then he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the bush to his right was trembling, something easy to spot for it was one of his own favored techniques. He took cautious steps towards it and said.

"Hello.? My Name is Xander, I'm not going to hurt you." He spoke trying to reassure whoever was in the bush, as he parted the foliage he saw the young lady crying and shuddering with cold, or more likely, shock. Shrugging his coat off and placing it over her shoulders, he continued to speak reassuringly.

"I'm here now, You're safe."